Aston Villa ... 0 Manchester United ... 1: Graham Taylor, whatever certain television documentaries might suggest, is a man who normally chooses his words with discernment, and when he is talking about the opposition he rolls the words round in his mouth like a man with a mouthful of mackerel feeling for bones.
Aston Villa's manager would not criticise Manchester United but like everyone else he was surprised by the ordinariness of a performance that lifted Alex Ferguson's team within two points of the leaders Arsenal.
"You don't expect to create as many chances as that against a side going for the Premiership," he said, pushing back the bridge of his spectacles with a half-smile.
The many opportunities Villa were offered will lend comfort not only to Arsenal's disquieted following but also to those strange legions of loathers who would have anyone win the title except United.
Villa's recent push for relegation, with four defeats in a row, has probably come too late. But their journey has, effectively, ended and they resemble some breakdown on the Premiership's hard shoulder, hazard lights flashing as they wait for a recovery vehicle to tow them to the close season.
"We created problems for their back four," said Taylor, "but our finishing was wayward."
Villa, in fact, have failed to score in 15 of their 30 Premiership matches, the worst record in the table, but United were still harried by the ageing Dion Dublin and the scampering but profligate Darius Vassell.
"Darius is not doing it," moaned Taylor. "When it comes to pace he is almost as quick as Thierry Henry and I would like to see him knocking the ball into space and running after it. That's what you do when you're a kid but stop when you become a professional footballer."
This match was almost decided in a blizzard of attacking moves from United before David Beckham squeezed in ahead of Alan Wright to convert Ryan Giggs's teasing cross in the 12th minute.
But though United flaunted a midfield of David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, Villa's Gareth Barry, 22 last month, was the outstanding player and he gives Sven-Goran Eriksson some pencil-chewing problems as the England coach picks his European championship squad this week.
On the left England have tried many options. The position has been described as the last piece in the jigsaw. But as all jigsaw devotees know, the last piece is always lost down the back of the sofa or chewed up by the moggy.
Guardian Service
ASTON VILLA: Postma, Samuel, Mellberg, Johnsen, Wright, Hendrie, Hitzlsperger, Hadji, Barry, Vassell, Dublin (Cooke 79). Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Crouch, Kinsella, Edwards. Booked: Wright, Hadji.
MAN UTD: Barthez, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, O'Shea, Silvestre, Beckham, Butt, Scholes, Giggs, van Nistelrooy, Solskjaer. Subs Not Used: Phil Neville, Blanc, Ricardo, Forlan, Fletcher. Booked: Scholes. Goals: Beckham 12.
Referee: M Dean (Wirral).
